Aria Carillo

Costa Rican born conductor and violinist Aria Carrillo comes from a long lineage of musicians: a violinist mother and a conductor father. Aria is the music director of the Golden Valley Orchestra and the Buffalo Community Orchestra. An active violinist as well, she is also a tenured member of the first violin section of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and regularly performs in chamber and solo recitals. Aria holds an undergraduate degree in violin performance, a double masters in violin and orchestra conducting, and is currently a doctoral candidate in orchestral conducting all at the University of Minnesota. Aria is a pupil of Mark Russell Smith in conducting, and of Sally O’Reilly in violin. Aria enjoys playing chess, cooking, visiting the diverse arts scene in the Midwest, and also spends time as an interpretive guide at the Bell Museum in Minneapolis.